In this section you will
find a whole host of great World War 2 films that have graced our
cinema's and TV screens over the past 70 years. Some of those reviewed
here were made during World War 2 for civilian consumption. Most
however are big name epics of the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's, featuring
such stars as John Wayne, Richard Burton, Steve McQueen and many
more. We also have some of the latest special effect masterpieces
of the last decade. The list of films here is by no means complete
and will be added to over the coming weeks.

Anzio
This film from director Edward Dmytryk (THE CAINE MUTINY) follows
the Allied landing at the beaches of Anzio--one of the bloodiest
battles of the war thanks to an overly cautious general (Arthur
Kennedy) allowing the unprepared Germans time to erect the Caesar
Line of defense around Rome. Robert Mitchum stars as Dick Ennis,
an unarmed seen-it-all war correspondent who finds himself in
the thick of the fray. Peter Falk is scrappy corporal Rabinoff,
a former shoe salesman who’s grown addicted to the thrill
of combat. Together they get stuck behind enemy lines and must
fight their way back to warn the troops. Based on the novel
by Wynford Vaughan Thomas, this Dino De Laurentiis-produced
epic strives to be a thoughtful exploration of the roots of
why man goes to war, as well as a full-scale action picture.
While not a classic in the line of THE LONGEST DAY, it's interesting
enough, with Falk and Mitchum carrying the ball in great, leisurely
strides every step of the way.

Band
of Brothers
This 10-part HBO television miniseries focuses on Easy Company,
a group of American soldiers in World War II, tracking their
experiences from the beginning of boot camp to the end of the
war. Anchored by actors Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston, the
series gives detailed attention to their experiences as a group,
as well as the way that each of them develops individually.
Based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's book of real-life accounts,
BAND OF BROTHERS was executive produced by Steven Spielberg
and Tom Hanks, who worked together on SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Hanks
also directed one episode, featuring his son, Colin Hanks.

A
Bridge Too Far
Richard Attenborough's ambitious, all-star adaptation (by William
Goldman) of Cornelius Ryan's book, gives an account of the Battle
of Arnhem. In 1944, the Allied powers attempt to expedite the
end of the war with a costly operation to capture six bridges
connecting Holland to Germany ended in Allied defeat. A multitude
of notables star in Attenborough's epic.

The
Bridge at Remagen
Based on a true account of a skirmish near the end of World
War II. In an effort to commandeer an important bridge on the
northern Rhine River, allied forces do battle with retreating
Germans who have every intention of destroying the bridge and
cutting off the enemy route.

The
Bridge on the River Kwai
One of the all-time great war films, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER
KWAI is yet another classic from the marvelous David Lean. The
film is an outstanding, psychologically complex adaptation of
Pierre Boulle's 1952 novel, a classic story of English POWs
in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their
Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers
conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson (a fabulous
Alec Guinness), the commander who supervised the bridge's construction,
has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil
their plans. Although credited to screenwriter Carl Foreman,
the script was actually written by blacklisted writer Michael
Wilson. The film garnered seven Academy Awards, including Best
Picture and Best Actor (Guinness).

Battle
of the Bulge
An action-packed drama about the battle that brought World War
II to a close in Europe. It tells a tense tale of the complicated
events leading up to that historical confrontation -- and presents
us with a group of strong-willed, highly individual military
men who play key roles in the shaping of their country's destiny.
Foremost among them is Kiley, an American lieutenant colonel
who must overcome his fellow officer's high-handed skepticism
to convince him that the supposedly defeated Germans are poised
to strike.

Battle-of-Britain
A powerful and colorful portrayal of an understaffed, technically
inferior royal air-crew who valiantly holds off the superior
forces of the German Luftwaffe. This pivotal battle of World
War II could have led to the Germans winning the war. The incredible
cast includes Michael Caine, Robert Shaw, Curt Jurgens, and
Laurence Olivier.

The
Big Red One
The famous 1st Div. of the U.S. Army is the background for this
World War II film. Marvin stars as an experienced sergeant with
four teenagers in his squad. Combat period covers the landing
in North Africa through the invasion of Europe.

Casablanca
World War II Morocco springs to life in Michael Curtiz's classic
love story. Colorful characters abound in Casablanca, a waiting
room for Europeans trying to escape Hitler's war-torn Europe.
Humphrey Bogart plays Richard "Rick" Blaine, a cynical
but good-hearted American whose café is the gathering
place for everyone from the French Police to the black market
to the Nazis. When his long-lost love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman),
surfaces in Casablanca with her Resistance leader husband, Victor
Laszlo (Paul Henreid), Rick is pulled into both a love triangle
and a web of political intrigue. Ilsa and Victor need to escape
from Casablanca, and Rick may be the only one who can help them.
The question is, will he?

Cross
of Iron
A very strong anti-war message film, set during World War II
and told entirely from the German perspective. A German Army
Sergeant doggedly struggles to keep his platoon intact while
surviving the horrors of the Russian front in 1943.

D-Day
The Sixth of June
Hollywood once again looks back at the undeniably compelling
story of D-Day, this time through the device of two officers
facing the coming battle, one American and one British, recalling
their love for the same woman. Solid battle sequences, but the
atypical plot is the hook.

Diary
of Anne Frank
George Stevens' life-altering experience of witnessing the death
camps after WWII was doubtless responsible for his desire to
adapt the famed diary of the teenaged Jewish girl, played by
Millie Perkins. With the feared 'Green Police' or Dutch Gestapo
combing Amsterdam in search of Jews, Anne, her parents, Otto
(Joseph Schildkraut) and Edith (Anna Huber) another Jewish family,
the Van Daans, and a dentist Albert Dussell (Ed Wynn) take refuge
for two years in a small attic provided by Gentile shop owners
Kraler (Douglas Spencer) and Miep (Dody Heath). Despite their
precarious situation, and the sense of claustrophobia created
by having to live together in such crowded conditions, covering
the windows during the day, and keeping as quiet as possible
at all times, the families carry on as best they can. For Anne,
her platonic romance with Peter Van Daan (Richard Beymer), the
attractive son of often volatile parents, makes the experience
more bearable than it is for the adults, with her ultimate fate
the tragic subtext of this intensely compelling film.

The
Dirty Dozen
An all-star cast energizes Robert Aldrich's classic World War
II action drama about a group of 12 American military prisoners
assembled by tacticians and ordered to perform a suicide mission:
infiltrate a well-guarded château and kill the Nazi officials
vacationing there. The incarcerated soldiers, most of whom are
facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, jump
at the chance to redeem themselves. Major Reisman (Lee Marvin),
the noncriminal in charge of the group, whips the men into a
crack unit, uses them to best the troops of his by-the-book
superior officer, Colonel Breed (Robert Ryan), in war games,
then leads the steely antiheroes on their perilous assault.

Das
Boot
In the midst of World War II, as the tide turns against the
Axis, a German U-boat crew is sent out to patrol the Atlantic
and fire at Allied ships bringing supplies to England. The submarine
also carries a press correspondent, there to report from the
front lines of nautical warfare. Meanwhile, the crew's captain
(Jürgen Prochnow) is becoming disillusioned with the Nazi
regime and with war in general. What starts out as a routine
mission is soon livened up beyond the crew's expectations when
their boat's surprise attack on a convoy is thwarted by a fast-moving
destroyer. Battered by depth charges, the crew must pull together
to survive the attacks of their unseen enemy.

The
Desert Fox
James Mason is utterly convincing as Nazi Field Marshall Rommel
(a role that became something of a specialty: see The Desert
Rats, 1953) who gained notoriety for his successful North African
campaigns. The big-budget actioner portrays not only his victories
and ultimate defeat, but also his personal doubts and conflicts
with his superiors back in Berlin.

The
Desert Rats
A sequel to the riveting and immensely popular THE DESERT FOX,
THE DESERT RATS is an expertly filmed adventure, British commando
Captain Tammy MacRoberts (Richard Burton) takes charge of a
hopelessly outnumbered but stubbornly defiant 9th Australian
division at Tobruk in 1941 in their heroic stand against Field
Marshal Erwin Rommel (James Mason) and his Afrika Corps. Their
new leader wastes no time in alienating his men by implying
they are inferior, but the Australians prove themselves both
plucky and amusing. Among the garrison is Tom Bartlett (Robert
Newman), MacRoberts’s old English teacher at college who
is a lowly volunteer and a raging alcoholic. When MacRoberts
leads a commando raid behind enemy lines and is captured, he
is taken to a German field hospital tent where he meets the
infamous Rommel, the two conversing civilly about war in one
of the film’s most intriguing scenes. A fascinating and
exciting tale.

Enemy
at the Gates
September 1942. The German Army has advanced to the gates of
Stalingrad. The Russian Army holds on desperately. It is so
poorly equipped that every pair of soldiers is given a single
rifle--the second man only gets the weapon when the first is
cut down. Trapped in no man's land between the opposing armies,
Russian recruit Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) finally acquires
a rifle from Political Officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). Danilov
is astonished when Zaitsev picks off several German officers.
On their return to the Russian lines, Danilov writes about Zaitsev's
exploits in the army newspaper. Zaitsev is assigned to a sniper
unit. He kills more German officers and, thanks to Danilov,
becomes a hero. In retaliation, the Germans bring in sharpshooter
Major König (Ed Harris) from Berlin to hunt Zaitsev. The
two snipers engage in a desperate duel, as the appalling Battle
of Stalingrad rages.

The
Eagle Has Landed
John Sturges's adaptation of Jack Higgins's best-selling suspense
novel stars Michael Caine as Nazi Col. Kurt Steiner. When the
Nazi high command learns in late 1943 that Winston Churchill
will be spending time at a country estate in Norfolk, it hatches
an audacious scheme to kidnap the prime minister and spirit
him to Germany. Heinrich Himmler (Donald Pleasence) assigns
Col. Max Radl (Robert Duvall) to mastermind the operation. He
enlists the aid of Steiner, who has been imprisoned for subordination,
by offering him a chance to save his life. Liam Devlin (Donald
Sutherland), an IRA lifer who hates the British, also signs
on for the mission. Steiner and his commando team parachute
into the small village of Sudley disguised as Polish soldiers.
As they await the arrival of Churchill, one of the commandos
rescues a boy from drowning in a nearby river, inadvertently
revealing his Nazi colors in the process. Steiner realizes that
some changes will have to made in his timetable.

Force
10 from Naverone
The survivors of Navarone have been given a new, and even more
difficult assignment - they must destroy a huge bridge located
deep in the Balkans. However, in their midst is a traitor who
betrays them to the enemy, and nearly succeeds in foiling their
plans.

The
Frogmen
A WWII film of the highest caliber, THE FROGMEN sports fast-paced action and
extraordinary cinematography, and earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for
its especially breathtaking underwater photography. Richard Widmark (HOW THE
WEST WAS WON) stars as Lt. Cmdr. John Lawrence, who takes command of a team
of demolition divers--known as "frogmen"--after the death of the
much-loved previous commander. Lawrence's strict rules do not go over well
with the men, who are fiercely independent. When disaster strikes, Lawrence
gets the chance to earn his stripes in front of his men, risking his life in
a dangerous attempt to save the day. The ensemble cast also stars Gary Merrill
(ALL ABOUT EVE), Dana Andrews (BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT), and Jeffrey Hunter.

Guns
of Naverone
One of the great war movies of all time, with an all start cast,
and a gripping plot--based on the Alistair MacLean novel. A
commando team is sent to a Greek Island to destroy the giant
guns of World War II Germany which are controlling a strategic
channel in the Aegean Sea. This was a groundbreaker in the Special
Effects department, too. Academy Award Nominations: 7, including
Best Picture, Best Director, Best (Adapted) Screenplay. Academy
Awards: Best Special Effects.

The
Great Escape
John Sturges's dramatization of the true story of a group of
British, American, and Canadian POWs who executed a massive
escape from Stalag Luft III in Upper Silesia in March 1944,
arguably the best World War II adventure film ever made, stars
Steve McQueen as the rebellious Virgil Hilts. The German high
command has filtered out all the most talented escape artists
of the Allies' and placed them in a POW camp specifically designed
to foil any unwanted departures. Of course, as soon as they
arrive, the prisoners begin work on a series of tunnels under
the direction of Roger "Big X" Bartlett (Richard Attenborough).
He assigns the POWs to jobs according to their specialties:
Bob "Scrounger" Hendley (James Garner) steals necessary
items, Eric "Dispersal" Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum)
hides the soil being dug from the tunnels, and Danny "the
Tunnel King" Willinski (Charles Bronson) and Colin "the
Forger" Blythe (Donald Pleasence) have self-explanatory
handles. For more than a year, 600 prisoners, most of whom won't
be leaving, work toward an escape that will temporarily disrupt
the operations of the German army.

Halls
of Montezuma
Once again returning to the genre to which he was perhaps best-suited,
director Lewis Milestone traces the fate of a Marine platoon
in the Pacific theater during WWII. The film stars Richard Widmark
as the no-nonsense Lt. Carl Anderson, an officer charged with
the responibility of leading his unit on a scouting mission
to capture prisoners from an experimental rocket-launching facility
and bring them back for interrogation. Among his platoon are
veterans Pidgeon Lane (Jack Palance), Doc (Karl Malden), and
Sgt. Zelenko (Neville Brand), as well as raw recruits Coffman
(Robert Wagner) and Cpl. Stuart Conroy (Richard Hylton). Anderson
is skilled at subtly motivating the varied group of characters,
while suffering himself from crushing headaches. The platoon
attacks the island, taking losses on the heavily defended beach.
When they try to take a strategic ridge, they're pinned down
by rocket fire whose source is impossible to locate. In desperation,
Anderson is ordered to take a hand-picked patrol behind enemy
lines to bring back prisoners. After some painful losses, they
finally return with prisoners. Despite occasional war movie
cliches, this is a solid, exceptionally well acted effort, which
gives full weight to the terrible human cost of war. The film
is also notable for great performances by Malden, Palance, Widmark,
Webb, and the very young Wagner.

In
Harm's Way
A navy man goes out to capture strategic islands held by the
Japanese during World War II. It doesn't get more macho than
this: IN HARM'S WAY was directed by Otto Preminger and stars
John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy, and many
more tough guys. Academy Award Nominations: Best (Black-and-White)
Cinematography.

The
Longest Day
An all-star cast enlists for this epic recreation of the Allied
invasion of Normandy that took place on June 6, 1944. The film
dramatises the viewpoints of the French, English, German, and
American soldiers. Featured actors include John Wayne, Robert
Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, and many
more.

Mosquito
Squadron
Two fighter pilots have become close friends while fighting
for the RAF in World War II. When one of the fighter pilots
dies, the survivor develops a relationship with his dead friend's
wife. Boris Sagal's combat film is memorable for its incredible
footage of the Mosquito bomber planes used by the British Royal
Air Force. The final sequence has also been sighted as an influence
on George Lucas' Death Star sequences in the original STAR WARS.

Memphis
Belle
The brave young men of the B-17 flying fortress named Memphis
Belle have just one more mission to fly over Nazi-occupied Europe
and they will be on their way home to a hero's welcome. But
this 25th mission will also be their most dangerous. Bombing
target: Bremen. Fact-based drama.

Midway
A star-studded World War II drama about the great air and naval
battle in which the underdog Yanks--outnumbered by the huge
Japanese flotilla--won American military supremacy in the Pacific.
Leading them to their heroic victory is Admiral Nimitz and Captain
Matt Garth, the latter a junior officer whose life is complicated
by his son's romance with a Japanese-American girl.

Operation
Pacific
World War II serves as the backdrop for this undersea tale,
which dramatizes the adventures and crises encountered by seamen
aboard a naval submarine. At the center of this story is the
continuing love affair between a naval officer (John Wayne)
and a nurse (Patricia Neal) -- who are divorced from each other.

Overzealous John Wayne is ultradedicated to his Navy command
during World War II, but Patricia Neal wants to change that
as his love interest.

Objective
Burma
Errol Flynn stars as Major Nelson, leader of an elite force
of paratroopers, in this thrilling World War II film. Nelson
and his men fly into Burma, behind Japanese lines, in order
to destroy a pivotal radar station. After completing their task,
the soldiers start to make their way back to the pick-up point,
when a contingent of Japanese troops confronts them.
Now the captives will endure a grueling fate -- and they can
only hope they're strong enough to survive long enough to get
rescued.

Patton
PATTON is a three-dimensional bronze bust of World War II field
general George S. Patton (George C. Scott) who wrote poetry,
fired pistols at strafing fighter planes, and loved America
with a lofty and historical zeal. Tracing his personal rivalries
with such generals as Rommel and Montgomery, his problematic
treatment of his own men, and his nearly runaway contempt for
diplomacy, the film triumphs as an enduring portrait of a complex
and larger-than-life figure. PATTON was recipient of 10 Academy
Award Nominations and winner of eight, including Best Picture,
Best Director, Best Actor--Scott, Best (Adapted) Screenplay--Francis
Ford Coppola/Edmund H. North. The special edition features a
behind-the-scenes feature, production stills, and a running
audio commentary on the production.

Pearl
Harbor
Director Michael Bay uses a tragic romantic triangle to set
the stage for the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in
this epic tale of love, loss, and patriotism. When Evelyn (Kate
Beckinsale), a beautiful Navy nurse, meets dashing ace Army
fighter pilot Rafe (Ben Affleck), the two fall madly in love,
only to be separated abruptly when he is called upon to help
fight the war in Europe. Unforeseen circumstances lead Evelyn
into the arms of Danny (Josh Hartnett), another fighter pilot
and Rafe's best friend since childhood. In the meantime, the
Japanese military is planning the surprise early morning raid
on Hawaii that will pull the United States into World War II.
Spectacular special effects vividly recreate the attack in devastating
detail as bombs explode, torpedoes shoot through the water,
and bullets fly, shaking tranquil Pearl Harbor to its core.

The
Pianist
Roman Polanski's THE PIANIST is based on the memoirs of the
talented pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrian Brody), a Polish
Jew, who miraculously survived World War II. The first half
of the film transports viewers to 1939 Poland, and brings it
to life clearly and believably. Szpilman is a tall, handsome,
winsome man who is revered for his piano performances on public
radio. He lives with his family--an intelligent, loving, and
spirited bunch--in an upscale flat in central Warsaw. Bombings
have begun to torment the citizens of Warsaw, and step by step,
the Nazis infiltrate, the Jews are branded and set apart from
their neighbors, imprisoned in a ghetto, and slowly exterminated.
The story is told through Szpilman's eyes, and thus carries
as much confusion and fear as disgust and torment. Polanski
paints Warsaw in bleak shades of gray and black, expressing
the helplessness of the Jewish people and the cruelty of the
Nazis with captivating photography. In the second half of the
film, which takes place in the early 1940s, Szpilman is alone,
having managed to avoid the trains to the death camps. His struggle
to survive, with some help from non-Jews but mostly his own
will to thrive, takes place in long, silent, languid stretches
filled with the imagined piano music that inspires Szpilman
to live. In a climactic scene of immense beauty and spine-tingling
tension, Szpilman must actually perform for a German soldier
who is inexplicably patrolling the near-deserted and utterly
dilapidated Warsaw ghetto. THE PIANIST, in the subtlety of its
sublime and heartbreaking tale, is carried by the intensely
moving performance of Brody, whose transformation is truly unforgettable.

Raiders
of Leyte Gulf
Jennings Sturgeon stars in this WWII drama as Emmett Wilson,
an American soldier doing reconnaissance near the island of
Leyte in the Philippines. Captured by the Japanese, Wilson is
brought to a POW camp where the Japanese torture him, hoping
to obtain information about the impending invasion. When Wilson
won't talk, the Japanese begin killing one innocent Filipino
a day until he'll divulge the information. Already incensed,
the Filipino rebels receive help in the form of an American
paratrooper who organizes a raid to free Wilson.

Run
Silent, Run Deep "Run silent, run deep"
is a term that accurately describes the mission of the submarine
in this tense World War II drama. Commander Richardson (Clark
Gable) is the only survivor when his sub is hit by a notorious
Japanese destroyer dubbed Bongo Pete in the Bongo Straits of
Japan. Back at Pearl Harbor, Richardson obsessively plays out
strategies that would have saved his crew. When he is reassigned
a new ship in the Pacific, he must face old demons as well as
the sub’s younger executive officer who was slated for
captain, Lt. Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster). Bledsoe has the support
of his crew and locks horns easily with Richardson, but when
the captain disobeys navy orders to stay clear of the Bongo
Straits, taking the crew right in to go after Bongo Pete, there
is very nearly a mutiny. RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP is marked by strong
performances, particularly by Gable, and a taut script. The
scenes of the rigorous sub drills the captain puts his crew
through are intensive and exceptional.

Sands
of Iwo Jima
The legendary gung-ho WWII combat film, stars John Wayne as
the battle-hardened Sgt. Stryker, a role that would, perhaps
more than any other, come to define the actor's iconography.
As he begins to hammer an ethnically diverse group of recruits
into combat-ready shape, they learn of his notorious toughness,
and of the mystery surrounding his demotion. Stryker finds that
Pete Conway (John Agar) the son of his late commanding officer,
hated his father and hates Stryker for his likeness to the man.
After Stryker and his unit have been fighting on Tarawa Atoll,
Cpl. Al Thomas (Forrest Tucker) neglects his post, resulting
in the death of one man and the wounding of another. While the
squad listens to the moans of Bass (James Brown) the wounded
man, Stryker, following orders to entrench, refuses to let anyone
help him. Bass is rescued, and when he sees Stryker in Hawaii,
tells him about Thomas' screw-up. Stryker and Thomas get into
a fight which is stopped by a major, but Thomas accepts the
blame, knowing Stryker's career could be destroyed, and begs
his forgiveness for his dereliction of duty.

Sea
Wolves
During World War II, a military regiment made up of elderly
soldiers embarks on a dangerous mission to destroy a Nazi ship
containing a radio transmitter. The men of the Calcutta Light
Horse have been recruited for the assignment by British intelligence
officers Colonel Lewis Pugh and Captain Gavin Stewart. After
receiving training, the troops head off to attack their target,
which is located in a Goa, India harbor. But to accomplish their
goal, the soldiers must first steal a boat and ferret out a
spy. Will this ragtag bunch of fighters have what it takes to
pull off their complex operation?

Sink
The Bismarck
It's spring 1941, and Great Britain is the only country in Europe
yet to be defeated by the Nazi army, but all of that could change
soon. The Nazis have launched their juggernaut battleship, the
Bismarck, to close off British supply lines and ultimately invade
England. A counterstrike is ordered, and with an arsenal of
ships at their command, Royal Intelligence officers Jonathan
Shepard (Kenneth More) and Anne Davis (Dana Wynter) fight desperately
to destroy the Bismarck. Director Lewis Gilbert delivers a heartfelt
docudrama about the courageous men and women of the British
navy. Featuring actual war footage and a roller-coaster plot,
the film is an unforgettable document of world history.

Stalag
17
Billy Wilder's adaptation of the Broadway hit stars William
Holden as the cynical Sefton. Set in the eponymous German prison
camp during WWII, the director's broad, black comedy focuses
on a group of decidedly unheroic prisoners. While they spend
most of their time trying to entertain each other with comedy
routines and pin-ups, they also occasionally entertain thoughts
of escape. But escape is the last thing on the mind of the hard,
calculating Sefton, a wheeler-dealer who's salted away a stash
of creature comforts which are the envy of the barracks. When
a couple of prisoners are killed while attempting to escape,
Sefton collects the money he won by betting against their success,
and many believe that it was he who informed the Germans. After
a new prisoner, Lt. Dunbar (Don Taylor) talks openly about having
bombed a German ammo train, he's immediately subjected to a
harsh interrogation by sadistic commandant Oberst von Scherbach
(Otto Preminger). Their suspicions confirmed, the prisoners
take revenge against Sefton.

Stalingrad
A gritty, devastating retelling of the battle for Stalingrad
during World War II, in which more than a million and a half
soldiers lost their lives. Told from the point of view of the
German soldiers, who were under orders to neither retreat nor
surrender, this film realistically portrays the brutality of
combat.

Saving
Private Ryan
Director Steven Spielberg's World War II tour de force chronicles
the journey of a GI squad on a dangerous mission behind enemy
lines. Led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), the unit is under
orders to track down a soldier, Private Ryan (Matt Damon), so
he might return home to his mother in America, where she is
grieving the unimaginable loss of her three other sons to the
war. The first unforgettable 20 minutes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
realistically and horrifically depicts the Normandy invasion
as Miller. his second-in-command, Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore),
and the others in the unit land at Omaha Beach.

Schindlers
List
Based on a true story, SCHINDLER’S LIST is Steven Spielberg’s
epic drama of World War II Holocaust survivors and the man who
unexpectedly came to be their savior. Unrepentant womanizer
and war profiteer Oskar Schindler uses Polish Jews as cheap
labor to produce cookware for the Third Reich. But after witnessing
the violent liquidation of the walled ghetto where the Krakow
Jews have been forced to live, Schindler slowly begins to realize
the immense evil of Nazism. When his employees are sent to a
work camp, they come under the terrorizing reign of sadistic
Nazi Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes). With the help of his accountant,
Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), Schindler creates a list of "essential"
Jews. Bribing Goeth, Schindler manages to get 1,100 people released
from the camp and brought to the safety of his munitions factory
in Czechoslovakia. Spielberg's glorious film is wondrously evocative,
visually stunning, and emotionally stirring.

The
Train
The duo of director John Frankenheimer and actor Burt Lancaster
again join forces with the latter starring as French railway
inspector Labiche. With Allied forces closing in on occupied
Paris, Herman Goering orders Col. Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield)
to move the priceless art from the Jeu de Paume Museum to Germany
by train. The museum's curator, Mme. Villard (Suzanne Flon)
tries to cajole Labiche into stopping the art train, but he's
far more concerned with blowing up a German armaments train.
Meanwhile, Papa Boule (Michel Simon), an aged railwayman, uses
the distraction of the Allied bombing of a nearby munitions
train to burn out the engines of the train carrying the art,
and is killed by the Nazis for his efforts. Hotelkeeper Christine
(Jeanne Moreau), has managed to persuade Labiche of the importance
of the art, and when the livid Waldheim orders him to drive
the treasure-bearing train, he's formulated a plan to foil the
Nazi theft. He fabricates a series of interlocking ruses which
lead the Germans to believe that the train has crossed into
Germany, when, in reality, it's simply going in circles around
Paris. Lancaster leads an exceptional cast in this engrossing
film, based on a true story. Michel Simon is especially memorable,
as is the gritty, minimally-lit black and white photography
of Jean Tournier.

Thin
Red Line
Terrence Malick returns to Hollywood after a two-decade hiatus
with this adaptation of the classic WWII novel by James Jones.
The story follows the efforts of an army platoon to capture
the Japanese-controlled island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific
Ocean, which will have a major effect on the outcome of the
war. The members of C-for-Charlie Company are all fighting for
different reasons: Some to achieve glory, some to fight for
democracy, and some simply to remain alive. They spend the quieter
moments reflecting upon their existence, searching for meaning
amid the senselessness of war.

Too
Late the Hero
In Robert Aldrich's pulsating World War II thriller, Lawson
(Cliff Robertson), an American naval officer specializing in
Asiatic languages, is sent to the Pacific theater to assist
a group of British soldiers (Michael Caine, Denholm Elliott,
and Harry Andrews) in a seemingly simple mission--knock out
the enemy’s key transmitter. But the allied soldiers soon
realize they are up against unsurpassable odds and that hopes
of survival are sliver thin. Lawson takes charge of the group
and devises a daring plan of escape. Robertson lends the film
emotional depth with his portrayal of Lawson as a reluctant
hero transforming himself into a leader as the suicidal nature
of the mission grows ever clearer. In the tradition of Aldrich’s
earlier action-adventure extravaganzas THE DIRTY DOZEN and THE
FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, TOO LATE THE HERO features a formidable
cast, exotic sets, cataclysmic special effects, and an ever-tightening
grip of suspense, making the film a worthy addition to the director's
canon of macho, white-knuckle forays deep into the lethal epicenter
of war.

Tora!
Tora! Tora!
A Japanese-American co-production, director Richard Fleischer
(SOYLENT GREEN) and two Japanese directors put together this
ultrarealistic account of the bombing of Pearl Harbor as presented
from the perspectives of both nations, as diplomatic tensions
rise between the two countries. While the Japanese military
plans its attack on American military installations, the American
forces nearly stumble into a much greater calamity due to a
series of errors and mistakes. As the two sides plunge closer
to war, the tension escalates until the final, spectacular air
raid, the most realistic ever filmed. This ITA award winner
has a fabulous cast, including Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten,
Jason Robards, James Whitmore, and E.G. Marshall.

Twelve
O'Clock High
Dashing Gregory Peck stars as General Frank Savage, commander
of the 8th Air Force during World War II. Loosely based on the
true story of Major General Frank A. Armstrong, TWELVE O'CLOCK
HIGH begins with Savage appearing to be a fearless fighter with
almost no compassion for his men. Told in flashback from the
perspective of Major Harvey Stovall (Dean Jagger), the story
unfolds as Savage takes over Stovall’s Bomb Group in 1942.
The company has suffered numerous losses, morale is at an all-time
low, and the tired pilots and their crews are immediately antagonized
by Savage’s obsession with discipline, leaving Savage
and Stovall with the onerous task of rebuilding the pride of
a fighting force that despises its leader. Jagger received an
Oscar for his efforts, but the real star is Peck, exhibiting
a vast repertoire to portray a complicated character.

U-571
Faithful to the conventions of the World War II genre, Mostow's
(BREAKDOWN) submarine thriller pays earnest homage to the pluck
and determination of ordinary people forced to overcome extraordinary
odds. The mostly young and inexperienced crew of the S-33 is
deployed on a top secret, high-priority mission to intercept
a disabled German u-boat (the titular U-571) and capture the
ship's encryption system--the Enigma--in order to crack the
Nazi's communication codes and hasten an allied victory in the
North Atlantic. Racing against a German rescue effort, the S-33
stages a daring raid on the U-571. But after capturing the U-571,
the Americans find themselves its prisoner as they must pilot
the leaky, disabled vessel through hostile enemy waters. McConaughey
(EDTV, DAZED AND CONFUSED) leads a strong cast (Keitel - HOLY
SMOKE, Paxton - A SIMPLE PLAN) in this fast-paced, tense, submarine
adventure.

Victory
A group of P.O.W.s at a German prison camp agree to compete
against Nazi soccer players in this World War II drama set in
1943 Occupied Europe. German Major Karl von Steiner, who played
soccer professionally before the war, comes up with the idea.
When his superior officers find out about the competition, they
pit the Allies against Germany's best team -- but they don't
realize that the P.O.W.s plan to use the upcoming big game as
a means of escaping. The Allied team includes John Colby, a
British officer who also played soccer before the war, and Robert
Hatch, an American soldier who cares far more about gaining
his freedom than the game itself. When the P.O.W.s realize they
have a good shot at beating the Nazi team in front of a huge
crowd, they must decide what's more important: finishing the
match or getting out alive.

Von
Ryans Express
The thrilling VON RYAN'S EXPRESS stars Frank Sinatra as a POW
colonel who leads a daring escape from Nazi Germany by taking
over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers
he finds himself commanding. Excellent performances by the great
Trevor Howard and Luther Adler highlight this fast-paced picture
directed by Mark Robson (PEYTON PLACE, THE HARDER THEY FALL).
Academy Award Nominations: Best Sound Effects.

Windtalkers
It's 1943, and the U.S. has developed an indecipherable secret
military code based on the Navajo language. Yahzee and Whitehorse
are to be trained as code talkers. Then John Woo's Pacific war
film erupts into violence, with a savage battle that has one
survivor, Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage). Badly wounded and feeling
guilty at the loss of his companions, Joe recuperates in Hawaii
where he is helped by a sympathetic nurse (Frances O'Connor).
Joe disguises his hearing loss and he is promoted as Yahzee's
battlefield bodyguard. Ordered to "protect the code at
all times," Joe must prevent Yahzee from being captured.
At first, Yahzee and Whitehorse, whose bodyguard is Ox Henderson
(Christian Slater), are subjected to prejudice--particularly
from Rogers (Noah Emmerich). But when the unit is shipped to
Saipan, the Marines begin to appreciate the code talkers. Director
Woo has created a powerful drama. The visceral battle sequences
are strikingly filmed and there is fine acting from Cage, Beach,
Willie, Slater, Emmerich, and Frances O'Connor, who portrays
the poignancy of love in uncertain times.

Where
Eagles Dare
One of the all-time great war stories that never actually happened,
about a group of Allied agents who attempt the rescue of an
American general from a seemingly impregnable German fortress
located in the Bavarian Alps.

Now you can own the most complete account of WWII. This 26-part
series takes you from the very beginning to the end when atomic
bombs were dropped on Japan. 20 million Russians, 2 and a half
million Germans, 480,000 British and 300,000 Americans lost
their lives in this epic struggle. Narrated by Laurence Olivier.

Yank
in the RAF
Tim Baker (Tyrone Power) is a cocky but easygoing American pilot
who signs up to ferry a bomber to Britain in the early days
of World War II. When he encounters old flame Carol Brown (Betty
Grable) performing in a London cabaret, Tim decides to stay
in England and join the Royal Air Force. He soon finds that
one of his fellow flyers, Wing Commander Morley (John Sutton),
is a romantic rival for the attentions of Carol. But as the
Nazi threat becomes more pressing, Tim and Morley put aside
their differences and pull together to participate in the daring
evacuation of the Allied troops from Dunkirk. A YANK IN THE
RAF teams action, adventure, and a dangerous love triangle with
actual air combat footage and the songs "Another Dream
Won't Do Us Any Harm" and "Hi-Ya Love" to create
jingoistic rapture in a story originally written for the screen
by famed producer Daryl Zanuck (using the name Melvile Grossman).

The
Young Lions
Director Edward Dmytryk's sprawling, ambitious WWII drama, based
on the acclaimed Irwin Shaw novel, stars Marlon Brando as Christian,
a German ski instructor who idealistically joins Hitler's army,
fights in the North African desert, and gradually loses faith
in his country and humanity in general. Parallel stories take
place across the Atlantic, as a tipsy Broadway star (Dean Martin)
wrestles with his conscience and cowardice, since his connections
keep him out of the draft. Another thread follows sensitive
Jewish draftee Noah (Montgomery Clift) as he encounters anti-Semitism
both from his fellow G.I.s and the parents of the girl he loves
(Hope Lange). Eventually, all three men meet near the end of
the war in the most tragic circumstances.